Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice has been optimised for Xbox Series X/S with ray tracing and more

Microsoft and developer Ninja Theory have announced that Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice has been optimised for Xbox Series X/S.

“Relive Senua’s journey and experience her world through new eyes”, reads the blurb accompanying the reveal video above.

“Available now with enriched visuals, DirectX Raytracing, resolution mode and more.”

According to the game’s official website, an update for the PC version of Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice is currently in development, but there are “no plans to bring this update to any other platform at this time”.

The announcement coincides with the fourth anniversary of the game’s original release for PC and PS4 on August 8, 2017.

It was then released for Xbox One in April 2018 and for Nintendo Switch a year later.

The critically acclaimed title won five Bafta awards: Artistic Achievement, Audio Achievement, British Game, Game Beyond Entertainment and Best Performer.

Cambridge, UK-based Ninja Theory was acquired by Microsoft in 2018. Its action sequel Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 was the first Xbox Series X game to be revealed when it was announced at The Game Awards in 2019.

Ninja Theory chief creative director Tameem Antoniades provided an update on the sequel’s development in a behind-the-scenes trailer released in June.

“What we’re doing right now is building a good chunky slice of the game before we then move into full production to build out the rest,” he said.

“Hellblade was very special for us and we didn’t want to do a straight sequel, we wanted to do something extra special, and so we’re making our lives as difficult as possible in that pursuit.

Further reading

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A new Hellblade II trailer says Ninja Theory are making their lives ‘difficult’ to create something special

The behind-the-scenes clip also shows new footage from Senua's Saga

“The game is set in ninth century Iceland, so we’ve been sending our art and audio teams out there doing photography, photogrammetry and combining it with satellite data to recreate large swathes of the landscape,” Antoniades added.

“On the character front, we’re building real costumes, scanning them in. We’re collaborating with Epic Games to bring you next generation digital characters. On the combat front, we wanted to be extra real and brutal and so Melina, our main actress, has been training for two years, and all of our animators have undergone combat training.”